10,044 Shares in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Bought by Affinity Investment Advisors LLC

Affinity Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 366.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,320,000 after buying an additional 501,776 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 88.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company's stock worth $19,981,000 after acquiring an additional 203,408 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the first quarter worth about $6,515,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,233,961 shares of the company's stock worth $145,310,000 after acquiring an additional 136,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 68.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 318,688 shares of the company's stock worth $12,266,000 after acquiring an additional 129,256 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.50.

Insider Activity at Pilgrim's Pride

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,892,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,440,642.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at $12,440,642.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,241,292.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 82.63% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of PPC traded up $1.73 on Friday, reaching $50.17. 1,827,521 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 902,916. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.66. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 12 month low of $25.23 and a 12 month high of $51.21.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.69 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

About Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.